Having worked on Fleet News’s sister publication Automotive Management for 10 years, I have more than a little sympathy for the plight of franchised dealers and independent repairers.

Dealers in particular have faced immense pressure on their business from manufacturers’ franchise demands and falling new car margins. Many are largely propped up by the aftersales operations. Hundreds have gone into receivership.

So when a reader posted a comment on our website about last week’s Fleet News cover story (Garages accused of fleet rip-offs) calling the article “disgusting”, it caught my attention.

See: Help for fleets ripped off by garages
See: Garages 'ripping-off' fleets

He (or she) linked the fact that dealers have been going out of business to the economic downturn, a downturn blamed on major banks who own the leasing companies. 

In his/her words, the leasing companies are to blame for the woes of dealers through their role in creating the recession and their role in screwing down labour rates.

Well, I disagree. The recession was going to hit irrespective of the credit crunch crisis – the banking situation has, though, made it worse and affected the pace at which the global economy will recover.
Dealers were going into receivership before the recession hit; they will go into it when we return to boom. The numbers failing are up, of course, because access to funding is a major issue for new car buyers, which has decimated sales. 

Blame the banks for this, by all means, but it isn’t the fault of leasing companies – they are also hugely affected by the funding pressures.

And it certainly isn’t the fault of the fleet operators. Returning to the original news article, the focus was on some workshops charging for work not carried out or replacing items that didn’t need replacing, such as brake pads. 

Our latest online poll (see latest poll) shows that 80% of fleet respondents have discovered a discrepancy on their service/repair bill.

Fleet News Poll

Irrespective of whether leasing companies are underpaying on labour rates – yes, they probably are, although plenty of dealers and independents are willing to undertake the work – there’s no excuse for such bad practice.

Plenty of dealers and independents give fleets a fantastic service – we have to root out the ones that are failing and challenge them to improve.